Welcome to Mexican-American.org - Network for the Mexican American Community

A FOCUS ON AMERICA'S LARGEST LATINO POPULATION

AN UNDENIABLE POWER IN NUMBERS - THE TIME FOR CHANGE

CHICANO POWER IN THE U.S.A.

Xcano Media staff, Los Angeles CA

Often, when the discussion of Mexican American civil rights, politics, or power in the U.S. arises, a recollection
of the Chicano Movement of the 1960's and 70's comes to mind. While many of the controversial issues and hot arguments that
existed then no longer remain, such as the draft recruitment of mass amounts of Chicanos into the military resulting in an
over-representation of deaths and casualties in an unwanted participation with war, there is a major similarity in the mindset
of the Chicano community today that is very much reminiscent of the past. Like their predecessors, for those activist individuals
in the Mexican American population who do willfully claim an identification with the sometimes highly charged term Chicano,
there is a strong sense of solidarity and understanding that their activism, pride, and position within the greater community
are all vital for the self-determination, full acceptance, and integration of all Mexican descent people within the power
structures of modern U.S. society. In essence, they are a key to widespread power.

THE CHICANO MOVEMENT TODAY: EL PODER DE HOY

Rarely will one ever in a lifetime find a Chicano, or a Mexican American household for that matter, where English is not
spoken. Yet, if one was to get all of their information about the Mexican American community from the U.S. mainstream media alone,
this important hard fact may come as a surprise. American media is obsessed with the portrayal of Mexican descent people
as being either merely illegal immigrants or gangsters. American media is equally obsessed with the viewpoints of white & black America
alone. A recent look at CNN's coverage
of the many hate-filled laws being enacted against our community in Arizona (or on any given day and/or night), or the lack of media coverage
for the Gran Marcha, the "largest march in U.S. history",
is a perfect case in point. So lacking is a serious representation of Chicanos in American mainstream media, that, of all the pressing
issues which daunt our community, it's this which is considered the most important. We must have mass media exposure of ourselves.
We must be heard. It is time.

LA Latino protest ( 3-25-06 )

BIRTHS EXCEED IMMIGRATION IN U.S. MEX-AM POPULATION

Births have surpassed immigration as the main source of growth amongst Latino Americans. This new trend is especially prevalent
amongst Mexican Americans, the largest of all U.S. Latino groups, according to a new analysis of the 2010 U.S. Census Report conducted
by the Pew Hispanic Center.

In the decade from 2000 to 2010, the Mexican American population grew by 7.2 million as a result of births and 4.2 million as a
result of new immigrants. This is a change from the previous two decades when new immigrants from Mexico either matched or exceeded the
number of native births. Despite this decline in immigration, the Mexican American population has continued to rapidly grow.
Signs of additional future expansion are also being observed.